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<\/p>\nA legal battle in Texas pits investor Kyle Bass’ companies against a groundwater conservation district over access to valuable East Texas groundwater.<\/p>\n
DALLAS \u2014 In Texas, water is the new oil.<\/p>\n
It is becoming more scarce, more valuable and now pitting neighbors, lawmakers, and Dallas investor Kyle Bass against one another.<\/p>\n
The dispute over who has the right to access billions of gallons of East Texas groundwater has now moved to federal court.<\/p>\n
Two companies tied to Bass, Redtown Ranch Holdings LLC and Pine Bliss LLC, are suing the Neches and Trinity Valleys Groundwater Conservation District and its board members. The companies claim the district illegally imposed a moratorium that blocks them from seeking permits to explore and develop groundwater beneath two ranches in Anderson and Henderson counties.<\/p>\n
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The lawsuit, filed July 7 in the Eastern District of Texas, describes the case as a civil rights and property-taking dispute. It seeks a court order lifting the moratorium or requiring the district to compensate the companies for what they argue is an unconstitutional taking of their property.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe point of the lawsuit was that the government under our state and federal Constitution cannot take your property without compensating you for it,\u201d attorney Jeffrey Tillotson, who represents Bass\u2019 companies, told WFAA.<\/p>\n
\nGroundwater district pauses new permits <\/p>\n
The groundwater district adopted the temporary moratorium May 21. It stops the acceptance and processing of new nonexempt drilling, operating, and water-transfer permit applications while the district updates its rules and management plan.<\/p>\n
According to the lawsuit, the moratorium is scheduled to remain in effect through Oct. 1 or until the district approves its rule changes, whichever occurs later.<\/p>\n
The moratorium includes exceptions for some pending applications, permit renewals, replacement wells, and other actions that would not increase groundwater production.<\/p>\n
Bass\u2019 companies argue those exceptions were written in a way that leaves them as the only applicants effectively blocked from moving forward. The lawsuit alleges the moratorium was aimed specifically at Redtown Ranch and Pine Bliss.<\/p>\n
Tillotson said the larger issue is whether Texas landowners have the right to access the groundwater beneath their property.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main legal principle here for people is that you own the water under your land and have since the state was founded, and it\u2019s in our Constitution,\u201d Tillotson said. \u201cSo he has the right to that water.\u201d<\/p>\n
WFAA reached out to the Neches and Trinity Valleys Groundwater Conservation District for comment but did not receive a response.<\/p>\n
\nApplications call for 43 wells <\/p>\n
Redtown Ranch and Pine Bliss submitted applications to drill a total of 43 wells across two East Texas ranches.<\/p>\n
Redtown Ranch covers about 7,200 acres, primarily in Anderson County. Pine Bliss includes roughly 4,300 acres in Henderson County, according to the federal complaint.<\/p>\n
Tillotson said the proposed wells are exploratory and intended to determine the location and amount of groundwater beneath the properties.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is just to explore, to see what water is there,\u201d Tillotson said. \u201cHe can\u2019t pump it out. He can\u2019t sell it to anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tillotson said drilling an exploratory well and obtaining permission to pump water are separate steps. He said the companies would have to use the information collected during the exploratory process to file another application stating how much groundwater they want to pump.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do want to point out that this is not to start pumping water,\u201d Tillotson said. \u201cThat comes only after you drill your exploratory wells, find out what you\u2019ve got, and you make an application then to pump water.\u201d<\/p>\n
Opponents question whether wells of the proposed size are necessary only to study the aquifer.<\/p>\n
The applications list 16-inch well casings and varying pumping capacities. One application lists a potential capacity of 1,300 gallons per minute, or more than 683 million gallons a year.<\/p>\n
State Rep. Cody Harris, R-Palestine, said a typical test well is about 2 inches in diameter.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Bass said, \u2018No, no, no, don\u2019t worry. These are just test wells. We just want to go and find out how much water is there,\u201d Harris said. \u201cWell, you don\u2019t need a 16-inch casing well size to go down and figure out how much water is there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tillotson said the number and size of the proposed wells reflect the amount of land being surveyed, not the amount of water the companies would eventually be allowed to pump.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne explanation and one reason why you have these many wells being drilled is you\u2019re looking all over to see where the water is, what water is underneath your property,\u201d Tillotson said.<\/p>\n
\nConcerns about neighboring water supplies <\/p>\n
Harris agrees that groundwater is a private property right, but said that right becomes more complicated when pumping on one property affects water beneath surrounding land.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone should be able to access the water that is underneath their ground,\u201d Harris said. \u201cThe problem arises when you start stealing your neighbor\u2019s water.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris said the amount of water involved could lower groundwater levels far beyond the proposed well fields.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s going to be taking water out from underneath his neighbors, going 50, maybe 100 miles away from the center of those well fields,\u201d Harris said. \u201cThat\u2019s how much water we\u2019re talking about here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris said the moratorium does not target Bass and gives the groundwater district time to determine how much water can safely be removed. He said conservation districts have a legal responsibility to ensure their rules protect the long-term condition of the aquifers they oversee.<\/p>\n
Harris also said he plans to pursue legislation that would give neighboring landowners a clearer right to sue if large-scale pumping removes water from beneath their property.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf someone tries to take your water out from underneath you, you should be able to sue for that taking,\u201d Harris said.<\/p>\n
\nResidents protest proposed drilling <\/p>\n
Residents have packed public meetings to oppose the proposed wells. Many rely on the same aquifer for their homes, farms, ranches and businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this goes through, we will not have water to survive here,\u201d one resident said during a previous public meeting. \u201cYou will kill the communities. You will kill these counties.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tillotson disputes claims that Bass\u2019 plans would drain the region\u2019s groundwater supply. He said the companies have not drilled the proposed wells or pumped any water and therefore cannot be responsible for existing problems with neighboring wells.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have not started drilling or pumping any water,\u201d Tillotson said. \u201cSo it\u2019s impossible for what we\u2019re doing to have drained anyone else\u2019s water because we haven\u2019t done anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tillotson acknowledged Bass could eventually seek permission to sell the water. He said Texas landowners are allowed to use their property and natural resources for economic benefit, subject to the state\u2019s regulatory process.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are allowed under our Constitution to draw some of that water,\u201d Tillotson said. \u201cYou can use it for yourself. You can use it for a business on your property, and you can sell it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lawsuit asks the court to temporarily and permanently block the district from enforcing the moratorium against Bass\u2019 companies. It also seeks compensation, damages, legal fees and other relief. The complaint does not specify how much money the companies are seeking.<\/p>\n
At the heart of the case is a question that could affect landowners across Texas: Whose property rights prevail \u2014 Bass\u2019 or his neighbors\u2019?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A legal battle in Texas pits investor Kyle Bass’ companies against a groundwater conservation district over access to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":380154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103],"class_list":["post-380153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=380153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/380154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}